New Camera

Several weeks ago I spent an evening tying flies with my good friend Lou (of the Fly and Fin Blog).  As we were tying, he was snapping away with his camera taking pictures of the flies being tied that night.  I remarked that I liked his camera, a comment that was overheard by my lovely bride.  Several days later I received a surprise.  A Pentax W90 camera of my own.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I struggle with photography.  I am in constant awe of the photography work of other bloggers.  I will never rise to that level, but I strive to at least provide photography that will add a visual element to the written words.

Friends of mine have made a lot of jokes at my expense for all of the cameras I have dropped, sunk or otherwise ruined. I have owned several "tough" cameras over the years.  A camera has to be drop proof, crush proof and most importantly waterproof to work for me.   I have used several Olympus models, my latest being a Stylus Tough 8000.  It is a fine camera, but I find it slippery as a fish when wet and the controls tiny and difficult to operate with my sausage shaped fingers.

The Pentax W90 may not have all the bells and whistles of the Olympus, and may not survive a nuclear detonation but it will definitely replace the Stylus as my official fishing/blogging camera.  This shock proof/waterproof  camera has a rubber like coating which provides plenty of grip even when wet.  It's rounded edges fit comfortable in my hand.  The controls are simple and accessible even for my fat old fingers and it weighs in a few ounces lighter.  The final bonuses are the 2.5 cm macro the 28mm wide angle lens and HD movie capability.

I have not used the camera enough to make a definitive comparison of image quality between the two cameras, but I am more than satisfied with the pictures taken to date.  I think I am going to like this one.